


Courted by Cuddles

by Takara_Phoenix



Series: The Alphas of Percy Jackson [11]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Cuddles, Fluff, M/M, Omega!Percy, Rachel is a Good Bro, Shounen-ai, Slash, Unintentional Courting, alpha!Octavian, awkward!Octavian, courting, oblivious!Percy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 08:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11100675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takara_Phoenix/pseuds/Takara_Phoenix
Summary: After the Giant War was over and after his high school graduation, Percy moved to New Rome for college, moving in with Rachel. What he had not taken into account was that over the past year of working together on the scrolls, Rachel had befriended Octavian. Percy is, innitially, not a fan of that. Well, at least until he gets to know the real Octavian.





	Courted by Cuddles

PJatO || Octavercy || The Alphas of Percy Jackson – Courted by Cuddles || Octavercy || PJatO

Title: The Alphas of Percy Jackson – Courted by Cuddles

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, ABO-verse, fluff, courting, unintentional courting, misunderstanding

Main Pairings: Octavian/Percy

Percy Jackson Character: Perseus Jackson, Octavian Simmons, Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Summary: Octavian was not the kind of alpha Percy had expected him to be. Instead of rough, superior behavior, Octavian courts Percy with stuffed toys and cuddles. It wasn't what Percy had expected, but oh, it was what Percy wanted and needed.

**The Alphas of Percy Jackson**

_Courted by Cuddles_

The first time Percy met Octavian, he had _not_ been impressed. Octavian was kind of scrawny for an alpha, but held the arrogance of ten alphas. The blonde Brit acted all high and mighty, bossing everyone around and trying to display his superiority. It completely rubbed the omega the wrong way. Percy hated stuck-up, arrogant alphas who thought they could boss him around just because he was an omega. And then the whole quest to save Thanatos and the war against the Giants happened and Percy didn't waste too much thought on the blonde.

After the war, Percy was pretty busy trying to finish high school and helping to rebuild Camp Half-Blood. A year later, Percy found himself graduating and moving to New Rome for college. Since he didn't know where to go – Romans were old-fashioned and living alone was a no-go for an omega – he ended up moving in with Rachel. The Oracle had moved to New Rome months ago, because she was working on the Sibylline scrolls together with Ella and Octavian. The redheaded beta was more than happy and excited about living together with her best friend.

That was actually the first time Octavian came back to Percy's mind, because the alpha also came back into Percy's life. He had been living with Rachel for a total of two days when he exited the bathroom down to a towel around his waist, just to have a startled Octavian stare at him.

"Perseus."

"Don't call me that", grunted Percy disturbed. "And stop leering at me."

"Then perhaps don't walk around naked", countered Octavian, though he did avert his eyes. "What are you _doing_ here? And why are you naked, while we're at it?"

"I _live_ here. Which should answer both questions", huffed Percy as he grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around himself in utter embarrassment.

"Rachel... said she got a roommate. She failed to mention it was _you_ ", muttered Octavian.

"Well, sorry to ruin your day", snorted Percy pointedly.

"I wouldn't call seeing a gorgeous omega nearly naked a ruined day", muttered Octavian beneath his breath as he shuffled the papers in front of himself to busy his hands.

"Weirdo", noted Percy with both eyebrows raised as he headed to his room.

Octavian stared after him dejectedly and with confused longing.

/break\

"You are a traitor, Dare", snarled Octavian, hackles raised.

Rachel looked not the least bit impressed as she entered the apartment to find Octavian already sitting in their living room. "Ah. So you ran into my new roommate then."

"Yes, when he got out of the shower _basically naked_ ", growled Octavian, a fist balled. "Do not test my patience in such a way. You ought to have warned me."

"Why? This is _way_ more fun", grinned Rachel pleased as she sat down next to him. "I've been dying to see you squirm around your crush. This is going to be the best entertainment possible."

"I told you not to call it a crush", grumbled Octavian displeased, still glaring.

Rachel was practically hollering with laughter, eyes softening a little. Over the past year, she got to know Octavian pretty well and she managed to worm her way into the Brit's heart to learn a very important piece of information: Octavian was only cold and vicious to those he saw as a threat. Those he considered pack? Those got to see a borderline kind and gentle side to the blonde. Rachel had been delighted to learn that Octavian had quite the crush on Percy and she was more than eager to push him into acting upon it. He denied it so far and refused to do any such thing.

/break\

Living with Rachel was both awesome and utterly confusing. He had been more than hostile toward Octavian for the first week or two, then he just grew plainly confused by the blonde. Whenever Percy entered the room without them noticing and it was just Octavian and Rachel, sometimes also Ella, then there would be something nearly gentle to Octavian. The protectiveness of an Alpha over their betas, over their pack. Percy found himself actually _liking_ that side of Octavian. It showed that he was more than just an alpha, he had the potential to be a strong Alpha and it made Percy nearly feel bad that the blonde never got his shot at being praetor – at being Alpha to the Romans.

"What's wrong, Perseus?", inquired Octavian suspiciously as he watched Percy.

Percy flushed and shook his head. The trio kept the scrolls and all their data in Rachel's apartment and worked from there most of the time. And while Rachel was currently away, on a weekend trip to visit her parents because they had _insisted_ , Octavian still opted to work from Rachel's apartment. Which brought them to the now, where Percy was sitting on the couch, squirming around and changing position every five seconds, reading a book for class, while Octavian was sitting on the armchair, hunched over his scrolls. It wasn't the book; the children of Hecate had created enchanted glasses that solved the whole Greek-letters-only issue that Greek demigods had months ago. Blush darkening, Percy put his book down and took his glasses off to fidget with them.

"It's none of your concerns", grunted Percy defensively, staring at his hands.

"...Your heat is coming up", stated Octavian surprised.

Percy's head snapped up at that, because he knew that it wasn't close enough to be smelt yet, embarrassment coloring his cheeks even redder. "H—How did you figure that out?!"

"My younger sister Julia and two of my cousins are omegas. They always grow more fidgety when their heats are coming up, seeking out more physical affection from the pack", replied Octavian.

"...Yeah", sighed Percy frustrated, running his fingers through his hair. "Only, there's not exactly a lot of pack around these days. Annabeth is in LA with Piper, Nico and Jason are off building temples all around the US, Reyna is currently visiting Hylla, Frank and Hazel are at Camp Half-Blood to visit Leo and Rachel is with her parents. Ty's at dad's palace and my mom's in New York."

Octavian heaved a sigh as he stood and walked over to the couch. Percy stiffened as he watched wearily how Octavian sat down next to him. He went even more rigid when Octavian laid his arms around Percy and pulled him close in a gentle way until Percy's head was resting against the blonde's chest, the demigod pressed up against the augur.

"W—What the Hades are you doing?", whispered Percy nervously.

"Offering you comfort. Unless you don't want it", stated Octavian casually.

He started running his fingers through Percy's hair and the son of Poseidon practically instantly went slack in his arms, purring loudly as he pushed up into the caress. It started Octavian a little, but the blonde also had to smile at it. Not that Percy could see that, with his eyes closed in bliss.

"Why... are you doing this?", asked Percy suspiciously. "You can't stand me."

"I don't believe I ever said that", stated Octavian seriously.

"Yeah, well, deeds speak louder than words", snorted Percy and rolled his eyes.

"Do try to see things from my perspective, Perseus", grunted Octavian a little irritated. "A total stranger invades my territory, while one of my Alphas is missing, and he manages to wrap everyone around him around his little finger just with his pretty smile. Not to mention, you _did_ bring danger with you. You brought Leo Valdez, who _shot my home and burned it_. And no, do not start with this ghost-possession-thing. Can you really not hear how ridiculous that sounds? Do tell me, how would _you_ have reacted if a stranger had come to Camp Half-Blood and burned it down? Would you have believed a story of... ghost possession? Not to mention, we Romans have been taught that Graecos are our sworn enemies, the bane of our existence, for centuries. I acted in the interests of my home and my pack and I do not doubt that you would have acted similarly."

Percy stayed awkwardly silent for a long moment, yet he still had to say something defiant. "Well, you were being a real jerk about it though. And as a male omega, I've kind of had enough of people being jerks to me just for who I am, you know."

"...I'm a jerk to _everyone_. Would you have liked for me to treat you differently just because of the fact that you're an omega?", inquired Octavian with one raised eyebrow.

Percy flushed just a little bit as Octavian used his words against him. "Well... how... how about you're just _not_ a jerk to anyone then, huh? Thought about that?"

"Yes. And it's too exhausting", drawled Octavian pointedly. "I can see it when I look at you. Every single loss during the war went straight to your heart and head. You took them all personally, because you allow yourself to grow attached to everyone. I'm a Roman by heart; New Rome as a whole comes before its individuals. If you don't get attached to people, they can't hurt you."

"...That's... very sad", whispered Percy and looked up at Octavian with his kicked-kitten eyes.

Somehow, Octavian felt as though he had been punched in the guts when he saw that look. To distract himself and Percy, he started caressing Percy just above his neck, making the omega shudder and lean more into the cuddles he was getting. Percy was startlingly adorable when he was melting against Octavian like that, soaking up the attention and caress.

/break\

It was three months later that Percy found himself cornered by a pointedly glaring Rachel. He ignored her at first, because the pointed glare could mean anything from Percy not having done the dishes, to him not having bought the right brand of tomatoes – how are there _brands_ when it came to _vegetables_?! So instead of acknowledging her presence, he curled together more comfortably on his bed. His bed was his favorite place to relax these days, because it had grown decidedly more comfortable. He grabbed the large, fluffy, blue cat plushie and hugged it close, nosing it. After a long, exhausting day of classes and work, it was so nice to curl up in the middle of his heap of fluffy stuffed toys and feel at ease in his nest of fluffy things.

"So... you noticing anything out of the ordinary?", asked Rachel playfully.

"I'm tired. No weird riddles, Oracle", whined Percy, offering his kicked-kitten eyes.

"You've been getting along really well with Octavian lately", stated Rachel casually. "You know, what with all of the gifts he makes you and the excessive cuddling you do and how you cook for him... My point being, it'd have been nice if my best friend who lives with me would have told me that him and my other best friend are _courting_."

Percy frowned confused as he sat up. "What are you talking about? Octavian and I? Courting?"

Rachel raised both of her eyebrows pointedly. "Look at all the _gifts_ he gave you. Courting gifts."

"What? No", huffed Percy as he looked around the roughly twenty to thirty stuffed blue toys, all varying animals and varying sizes. "They're just... Because I walked in on him trying to gut a blue pegasus and I threw a playful fit, because the thing was way too cute to be sacrificed. And he just made a habit of giving me all the blue toys out of the loads he gets for his augury. It's like... an inside-joke, Rachel. Don't read so much into it."

"And the... cuddling?", inquired Rachel next, arms crossed over her chest.

"When my heat was coming up last month and you weren't there and kind of... no one from the pack was around and Octavian gave me the... physical contact I craved. He actually gives real good cuddles", shrugged Percy. "It's no different from cuddling with you or Annabeth or Nico."

"Literally the three worst example names you could have chosen", muttered Rachel beneath her breath and shook her head at just how utterly oblivious Percy could be – everyone knew Nico used to have the biggest crush on Percy, though lately he had been courting Jason, while Annabeth was his ex and everyone knew about Rachel's former crush on Percy. "And what about the food?"

"Food? What food?", asked Percy confused. "You mean that I don't just eat in front of him and not share with him while he's working his ass off at our apartment? Because I'm a decent human being and thus cook for two instead of one when he's over and you're at work or in classes?"

"You've been cooking his favorites lately", pointed Rachel out.

Percy shrugged casually. "I'm all for trying new recipes and he said he's missing his aunt Drusilla's cooking, so I asked for a couple recipes to try them out. What's the harm in that?"

"Let me repeat, just one more time", sighed Rachel a bit exhausted. "There's this alpha, who you allow to hold you and cuddle you when you feel vulnerable, who's been giving you a ton of presents, without a real _occasion_ behind the gifts, and who you cook for, his favorite food."

Percy listened very closely and mulled it over, his cheeks slowly coloring. Okay, so he could see how that might look like courting to someone on the outside. Omegas _never_ sought physical contact from an alpha outside their own pack. Heck, he knew it still made Nico all blushy and awkward to cuddle with Percy even though they actually were pack, but Nico was from the 30s and back then affections between an unmated alpha and an unmated omega were rather unheard of.

"I'm not... It's not...", started Percy weakly before he faltered.

"So... you _don't_ want to be Octavian's mate?", asked Rachel gently as she sat down next to him.

Percy paused for a very long moment at that. If she had asked him that three months ago, he would have laughed in her face. But the past four months of living with Rachel? Percy would be a liar if he were to say that the Octavian who truly cared about someone was the same Octavian who had regarded him with hostility at first. He'd also be a liar if he'd say he didn't understand. They had met during a time of crisis, were on opposing sides. And not everyone was like Percy. Not everyone had an open heart and an open smile for every stranger they met. Annabeth and Clarisse had both been real dicks to him when he had first met them, yet by now they were two of his best friends. The same could be said about Octavian. Sure, their initial meeting had been more than rocky, but by now Percy got to know him more personally and he really liked the dry-witted, sarcastic blonde. Octavian could be downright cheeky if he wanted and him and Rachel could spend hours bantering, which was so entertaining to watch. Sometimes, after Rachel and Octavian were done with their work, the three of them would curl together on the couch and rewatch _Game of Thrones_. Octavian was definitely different with those he considered pack and worthy of his affections than he was in public and to strangers, like with Rachel who had become his best friend.

"I... never thought about it before", admitted Percy softly, cheeks red. "I should... talk to him!"

Before Rachel could add her own two cents to that, he was out of the apartment and on his way to Octavian's mansion. Yes, mansion, not house. That had surprised Percy the first time he had been over too, but the Simmons family was a very old one with a lot of say in New Rome. He only had to wait briefly after knocking semi-frantically, until Octavian opened the door. His expression was bored and agitated, as always, until he realized who was at the door, then it considerably softened.

"Perseus. What can I do for you?", asked Octavian, voice softer than with others.

Percy smiled at that before remembering why he was here. "Rachel thinks we're courting."

Octavian opened his mouth with a sheepish look on his face, before he paused at Percy's exact words and visibly deflated, turning a bit away from Percy. "...Thinks. We... We aren't... courting then, I take it." Octavian took a breath and straightened his back, unusually polite smile on his lips. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I shouldn't have spoken to Rachel, it seems. My mistake, I'm sorry, I should not have assumed." The blonde turned away just half an inch more, voice so low that Percy barely didn't hear it and was sure he wasn't _supposed_ to hear it. "It was foolish of me to assume such a magnificent omega like you would accept _me_ courting you..."

Percy frowned displeased, because he did indeed catch that last part. And he didn't like it one bit. He liked Octavian a lot, actually. Maybe more than he had realized until Rachel had so nicely pointed out the fact that what him and Octavian were doing was basically courting. And when she had asked him if he didn't want Octavian as a mate, Percy couldn't help but _picture_ it. The picture really wasn't bad. In fact, the picture was pretty amazing. Octavian never beat around the bush, he told Percy dryly how it was and didn't mind criticizing the omega for his more reckless stunts. Not to mention, Octavian had like the perfect body-size for Percy to curl in his lap and tuck his head under the blonde's chin. Which, okay, was maybe a bit more intimate cuddling than he did with his pack-mates, if he was being honest. Perhaps he did kinda-sorta... feel attracted to the Brit. Always one who preferred actions over thinking, Percy grabbed Octavian by the toga and pulled him down into a kiss. A kiss that lasted longer and turned deeper than originally intended, leaving Percy clinging onto the blonde and going a little slack in his arms. Octavian was stunned, but he also reacted quickly and wrapped his arms around Percy's waist to keep him close.

"I... I'm sorry, I'm confused?", grunted Octavian curiously as their kiss broke.

"Rachel thinks we're courting. And it would have been nice if you'd have like informed _me_ first of that before others", added Percy with the smallest grin. "Because I think I kind of wouldn't be opposed to it? You're... definitely not the alpha I first thought you to be, but you are definitely the kind of alpha I would love to call mine."

"Is that so?", inquired Octavian intrigued, pulling Percy up even closer against his chest.

"Yeah", grinned Percy, tilting his head. "But I honestly didn't think I would be the kind of omega you'd want. What was that about your parents expecting you to mate into a prestigious, old Roman family? My family tree doesn't exactly have a lot of branches and I'm a Graeco, ain't I?"

"...A Graeco-Roman mating could be sold to my parents as a political alliance, considering we are currently trying to mend things between Romans and Greeks. Thinking about the future and all that. And while your mortal side of the family might not be prestigious, you are the son of one of the Big Three, the hero of two great wars. Uncle Maximilian would call you a 'trophy omega', one to be shown off on a gala amongst the old Roman families."

"Sounds like a good sales pitch", grinned Percy, amusement dancing in his eyes. "But I think I need like at least a dozen fancy dates before I'm willing to put up with your old-fashioned family."

"Fair enough. How does dinner sound? Tonight?", offered Octavian all too pleased.

"Sounds perfect", whispered Percy as he pecked Octavian's lips once more.

_~*~ The End ~*~_

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted a slightly different spin on Octavercy, compared to the usual. Tavy falling in love with Percy first and being kinda awkward about it was fun to write :3
> 
> Next up in the series is Will and how they'll make an omega/omega relationship work! ^o^


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